Forgiveness
by Dominus Umbra
Summary: Diane spotted her sergeant the moment she walked through the door... Femslash.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay, so this is the first in a series I'm currently working on. There will probably be three, maybe four chapters to this story, depending on my motivation level and how sadistic my teachers are feeling in regards to homework. Unbeta'd, so mistakes are my own, and they may be a tad out of character as I'm working from memory. Enjoy.**

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Diane spotted her sergeant the moment she walked through the door. The blond woman was sat at the bar slouched over a half-empty pint. The constable sighed. The death of the new PC, Billy, had shocked the whole relief, but Sgt Wright had taken it particularly hard.

"Sarge? You alright?"

Nikki stiffened and turned. "What are you doing here?" her words were slurred and her eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot.

"The bartender was worried about you. He called the nick and the inspector sent me to get you and take you home, since Doug's still in hospital."

The sergeant spared a moment to glare at the bartender, who was standing at the other end of the bar. "Yeah, well, I've 'ad a shit day. How'd he know to call the station?"

"He said you'd been staring at this since you arrived." Diane replied, picking up Nikki's warrant card from where it lay on the bar and examining it, before slipping it into her own pocket. "How many of those've you had?" she asked after a moment, nodding toward the half-empty glass.

"Lost count."

"Well you can't stay here. C'mon."

"Uhh-uhh, yes I can."

"No you can't. Drinking yourself stupid isn't gunna help. Besides, inspector's orders. I don't wanna drag you out of here, but I will if I have to."

Nikki glared at her for a moment, then slid off her stool and landed unsteadily on her feet. "Fine. I'm goin'." She tried to push past Diane, but the PC caught her wrists.

"Whoa, there's no way I'm letting you drive, Sarge. You're hammered. Where are your keys?"

The sergeant glared sullenly at her again, then fished her car keys out of the pocket of her jeans.

Diane took them, thanked the bartender, then followed Nikki out of the pub and into the cool night air, reaching out a hand to steady the drunken woman.

"Where's your car?" Nikki pointed to a silver car parked a bit further down the road. "Right, c'mon."

As they walked slowly toward the parked car, Nikki looked over at the constable.

"How'd you get here, anyway?" she slurred, the thought having just occurred to her.

"Dan gave me a lift."

"And how're you gunna get home from mine?"

"I'll walk. I don't live far from you. That's why Gold sent me; she had an inkling you wouldn't be in any state to get home by yourself."

Nikki muttered something about overly perceptive inspectors then slid into the passenger's seat of her car and rested her head against the window.

The drive passed silently. Once they reached Nikki's front door, the blond woman fumbled with the key for a minute before the PC took it off her and unlocked the door herself, slipping the key into her pocket as she caught her sergeant when she stumbled over the threshold.

Nikki staggered inside and almost fell onto the sofa. Diane followed her in and watched her for a moment before speaking.

"Will you be okay now?"

"Careful, PC Noble. It almost sounded like you cared, just then."

Diane rolled her eyes "I'll take that as a yes, then. I'll see you tomorrow, Sarge." she dropped the car keys on the coffee table before she left, shutting the door gently behind her.

* * *

The constable started walking along the street towards her flat, but as she pushed her hands into her pockets, she felt Nikki's warrant card and key. Cursing softly, she turned around and headed back to her sergeant's house.

"Sarge?" she called uncertainly as she entered "I forgot I still had your warrant card..." she trailed off as she re-entered the living room to find Nikki clutching an open bottle of whiskey with tears rolling down her face.

"He's dead, Di." the distraught woman sobbed, "Billy's dead and it's my fault."

"Oh, Sarge, it wasn't your fault" Diane moved around the sofa so she could sit next to her colleague, putting one arm awkwardly around her shoulder. The sergeant didn't pull away, just continued to sob.

"It is my fault. I took him with me into that warehouse. I left him on his own. He was so young, and now he's dead."

"Sarge...Nikki, listen to me," she took the bottle out of her sergeant's hand, then pulled her around so she was looking her in the face, "it was not your fault. You couldn't've known what was going to happen. That guy wanted to kill a copper. He planned it. It was not your fault." The PC pulled her into a hug, wrapping her arms around Nikki's shaking form.

Nikki continued to sob into Diane's shoulder for about five minutes. Finally, she pulled away and drew a shaky breath.

"C'mon. You need to sleep. Where's your bedroom?"

"Uhh…Down the hall. Last door on the left."

"C'mon then." Diane stood and pulled the blond woman up, supporting her as she staggered, and led her down the hallway.

"You're not gunna let me forget this, are you?" Nikki asked as the constable pushed the bedroom door open.

The brunette actually looked a little hurt at the query "Nikki, I wouldn't use this against you. I'm not that much of a bitch, you know."

"Sorry. And thank you, you know, for pretending to care." she sat on the edge of the bed and Diane crouched in front of her with a wry smile.

"No problem. You probably won't remember anyway. Listen. Sleep. Okay? No more alcohol." Nikki smiled, then met Diane's eye. Hesitantly, almost as if she didn't mean to, the sergeant leant forward and pressed her lips to the surprised constable's.

Diane froze, and instinctively reciprocated. It was only when Nikki cupped her cheek gently that she realised what she was doing, and pulled away.

"No. You're drunk, you're emotional, and you're married. I'm sorry." She stood and backed away slightly "I'll see you at work, okay?" The PC turned and left hurriedly. By the time the front door closed behind her, Nikki was asleep.

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**AN: And thus begins the series that I'm tentatively calling "Connections" for now. Due to the whimsical nature of my muse, it probably won't be very linear, but bear with me. **

**Go on, review, you know you want to.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I can't quite work out why. So I figured I just go with it. Let me know what you think. Characters aren't my, blah blah blah.**

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The next few days weren't as awkward as Diane expected. She didn't mention that night to anyone else, and Nikki had only fragmented memories of what had occurred. She herself was willing to write the kiss off as her sergeant being drunk and emotional and – after suppressing a little voice at the back of her mind that told her she'd enjoyed it – just forget about it. She did, however, make a conscious effort to avoid being alone with the blond woman for any length of time.

On the other hand, fate, it seemed, was determined to undermine that decision. Almost a week later, Diane was heading home when voice caught up with her as she passed the inspector's office.

"PC Noble!"

The constable backtracked and stuck her head through the door. "Ma'am?"

The inspector was on the phone. "Yes, I'll send someone to get her now. Thank you, sir." She hung up. "I need you to go down to the Seven Bells. Sgt Wright is there again. It was PC Rowan's funeral today."

"Uhh, actually Ma'am I was just..." her protests trailed off under the Inspector's glare "Yes Ma'am."

Diane headed out to the yard, and caught Tony just as he was getting in the area car with Sally. "Oi, Tony! I need a lift."

The sergeant was in the same position as last time, slumped over a glass of amber liquid.

"Is this gunna become a habit, Sarge?" The PC took a seat next to her colleague, noting the redness of her eyes.

"Probably." Nikki made a funny noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and took gulp of her drink, then returned to staring into it. "His parents thanked me. For trying to save their son. I couldn't say anything. I just stood there." A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. "It's my fault he died, and they were thanking me."

"Sarge, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do. And that," Diane added, catching her arm as she went to take another gulp of beer "isn't gunna help." She took the glass from her colleague and set it down on the bar, out of reach, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Now, I'm gunna take you home. Okay?"

Nikki shook her head numbly, staring at the bar. "I don't wanna go home. I'll just end up fighting with Doug again. 'Specially if I turn up drunk." She laugh/sobbed again.

"Well you can't stay here." Diane sighed, then made an offer she knew she'd probably regret. "I've got a spare room, you can stay at mine." She ignored the surprise on Nikki's face, just slipped off the stool and called the bartender over.

"Hi. Listen, thanks for this. She's had a tough time recently."

"No problem, love. You lot keep us in business half the time, it's the least I could do."

Diane smiled, then pulled out a pen and wrote her number down on a coaster "Look, if she ends up like this again, would you mind calling me directly? You know, save her getting a roasting from our Inspector."

"No worries, love."

"Thanks. Right, Sarge, let's go. Gimme your keys."

"Huh? They're...uhhh" Nikki slid off her stool and staggered against Diane, who supported her until she could stand by herself.

"Keys, Sarge. Car keys."

"Yeah...." she looked lost. Diane rolled her eyes and slipped a hand into the intoxicated woman's pocket, fishing out her car keys before gently taking her arm and steering her towards the door.

The drive to Diane's flat was slightly longer, but just as quiet as the previous one had been. The constable was thankful she lived on the ground floor; she didn't fancy trying to get Nikki up a flight of stairs in her current state. As it was, the sergeant had trouble walking in a straight line to the front door.

Once they got into the flat, Nikki staggered to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. Diane rolled her eyes and went to crouch in front of her.

"Oh Nikki….Why do you keep doing this to yourself, eh?"

Nikki merely shrugged.

"Well you're not staying there. I said I had a spare room. C'mon."

She grabbed Nikki's arm and pulled her to her feet. Her sergeant just stood there for a moment, then looked at the constable, who still had hold of her arm.

"Why did he have to kill him, Di? He was so young…"

Diane just pulled her into a hug, at a loss for what to say. They stayed like that until Nikki drew back. Her eyes were red from crying. Diane brushed a strand of hair off her face, and Nikki leant closer.

Their lips met briefly, but Diane pulled away

"Nikki…" the look in the other woman's eye stopped her. It was a lost, helpless look that Diane never would have associated with Nikki Wright.

"Please Di. I need to feel…" her tone was so broken, so vulnerable, that when Nikki kissed her again, Diane simply wrapped her arms around her and guided her towards the bedroom.

* * *

Diane woke the next morning to see Nikki Wright lying next to her and started swearing softly whilst questioning her own sanity. She'd slept with her sergeant. Her _female_ sergeant. Her _married_ female sergeant. Her _drunk_ married female sergeant. Great.

After beating herself up for five minutes – and burying that little voice that was telling her she'd loved every second of what had occurred last night under waves of denial – the constable decided that pretending the whole thing never happened was probably a good idea. Once she'd got dressed, Diane scribbled a short note:

_Nikki, _

_Yes, we slept together. No, we don't have to talk about it. No, I didn't plan it, but let's just say you're very persuasive when you're drunk. I know, it can never happen again. No, I will never hold it over you. No, I will never tell your husband, or anyone else. Yes, I am going to pretend nothing's happened. Your clothes are on the end of the bed. Your keys are on the table, next to the aspirin. I've gone for a run, probably won't be back for a while._

_Diane_

She left it on the bedside table before leaving the flat, hoping to god that Nikki would be gone by the time she got back. She was.


End file.
